Name of the Project
Kvanefjeld rare earths project.

Location
Kvanefjeld, southern Greenland.

Project Owner/s
Energy Transition Minerals.

Project Description
The project is underpinned by the world’s biggest code-compliant rare earths resource.

The outcomes of a feasibility study in 2016 demonstrated the potential of the project to be developed as a large-scale, low-cost producer of rare earths. It envisaged the production of 30 000 t/y rare-earth oxide (REO) at a processing rate of three-million tonnes a year.

An optimised feasibility study was completed in May 2019, showing recovery improvements across the light and heavy rare-earth elements.

The increased recoveries will result in the production of 32 000 t/y REO at three-million tonnes a year, adopted in the 2016 feasibility study.

The  rare-earth recoveries have increased the projected output of commercially important rare earths to 4 260 t/y for neodymium oxide, 1 420 t/y for praseodymium oxide and 270 t/y for dysprosium oxide.

Average by-product output includes 451 t/y of uranium oxide, 6 060 t/y of zinc concentrate and 12 417 t/y of fluorspar. The increase in rare-earth recoveries is primarily owing to the design of a single-leach stage, which results in fewer solid/liquid separation stages. Each separation stage results in minor rare-earth losses. 

Kvanefjeld is well positioned to be a significant contributor to global rare earths supply for an initial 37-year period, based on a 108-million-tonne ore reserve.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The 2016 feasibility study estimated the project’s net present value at $1.59-billion, at a 10% discount rate. The internal rate of return is 43.4% with a payback of five years.

Capital Expenditure
The projected capital cost has been reduced by an estimated 40%, from $832-million to $505-million. This reduction resulted from optimisation studies covering all elements of the project, from the flowsheet to civil construction.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Energy Transition Minerals said on January 18 that a Copenhagen arbitration tribunal had ordered its unit, Greenland Minerals A/S (GMAS), to provide payment security for the legal costs of the governments of Greenland and Denmark against the rare-earth miner's claims over the Kvanefjeld project.

The tribunal, in an interim decision, has ordered GMAS to clarify within a month if Energy Transition will provide an indefinite demand guarantee of 25-million Danish krone ($3.65-million).

The tribunal's order pertains to an application filed by the governments of Greenland and Denmark in March 2023, seeking payment security for their legal costs from Energy Transition, should the tribunal rule in their favour.

The tribunal, however, also stated that it was "not certain that the claimant will be ordered to pay legal costs, let alone full costs, even if the defendants win the case".

"The company has in excess of A$17-million ($11.15-million) in cash reserves and has the capacity to meet the order for security from existing funds, if necessary," Energy Transition's MD Daniel Mamadou has said.

Energy Transition, formerly Greenland Minerals, has been fighting for the Kvanefjeld project licence since late 2021.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Energy Transition Minerals, tel +61 8 9382 2322 or email info@etransmin.com.